Can the beleaguered Chicago Sky attract a premier head coach after firing Teresa Weatherspoon?

Chicago Sky co-owner Nadia Rawlinson called Oct. 24, 2023, a “good day” as she introduced new head coach Teresa Weatherspoon to embark upon “the next era” of the franchise. Rawlinson was beaming as she sat on the dais next to Weatherspoon and 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper.

Less than a year later, two of the three are gone, and questions abound for Rawlinson as to how that next era ended so quickly and whether fans should have faith in the Chicago brain trust to identify the correct path to move forward.

The Sky are not a high-priority destination in the WNBA. The Chicago Sun-Times reported there was limited interest in the franchise’s coaching job last season, with only two confirmed candidates. The sense around the league, according to sources who work in the WNBA, is that the role will be similarly unattractive this time around, and the lack of job security for Weatherspoon during a rebuild isn’t going to help that reputation.

The first question many might wonder: What more was expected from Weatherspoon as a rookie head coach? Chicago was projected in the preseason to finish in the bottom two of the WNBA standings. Free agents had left en masse since the 2021 title, including Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, Stefanie Dolson and Azurá Stevens. Then, Copper demanded a trade after the Sky struck out during the offseason. Only four players remained from a team that squeaked into last season’s playoffs as the No. 8 seed.

Despite the dearth of experienced talent, Weatherspoon had Chicago in playoff contention until the final week of the regular season. She guided the development of rookies Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso and coaxed a career year out of Chennedy Carter, helping the Sky find building blocks for the future while winning in the present … until the bottom fell out with late-season injuries.

Chicago players commented on Weatherspoon’s learning curve with designing schemes during exit interviews, and her late-game ATOs and clock management were suspect throughout the season. Nevertheless, those are first-year growing pains that should have been given some grace.

Then there’s the matter of Weatherspoon’s relationship with her franchise players. In addition to Carter finally finding a head coach to bond with, Reese could not have been more complimentary of Weatherspoon and was clearly surprised by the news of her firing.

I’m heartbroken. I’m literally lost for words knowing what this woman meant to me in such a pivotal point in my life. She was the only person that believed in me. The one that trusted me. Many don’t even know what it’s like to be a black women in sports when nobody believes in…

— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) September 27, 2024

“I don’t think I would have been this successful without T Spoon,” Reese said on the latest episode of her “Unapologetically Angel” podcast. “All my hard days, I can call her as not even a coach, as a mom. She’s been there for me through everything. Just being able to have that, I feel like I got lucky.”

After learning about Weatherspoon’s dismissal, Reese told the Sun-Times, “I can’t imagine playing for the Sky without (her). She’s the one reason I wanted to come here.”

Chicago has already lost multiple franchise players within the last three seasons. Parker, Vandersloot and Copper didn’t want to stay around because of the lack of investment in the team, each heading to franchises (Las Vegas, New York and Phoenix) with better amenities. Without a world-class infrastructure, the Sky would theoretically be reliant on personal relationships to keep players around, but they burned that bridge.

At this point, the franchise doesn’t have an identity on the court. Whoever begins the season for the Sky will be their fourth head coach in three calendar years. They’re already on their third general manager during that stretch, and the players selected for the 2024 roster were intended to fit Weatherspoon’s ethos. Either the front office has to find another coach who matches that energy, or Chicago will have to undergo yet another roster overhaul.

Furthermore, the Sky are still firmly within a rebuild. Without Marina Mabrey, who was traded in July, their roster didn’t have enough offensive firepower to compete for a playoff spot. The league will get deeper next year. Firing Weatherspoon suggests Chicago doesn’t have the patience to wait out a young head coach, but the list of experienced coaches isn’t very long. Vickie Johnson and Katie Smith had uneven records at their prior stops, and the Sky already had Pokey Chatman for six seasons.

Perhaps the positive way to spin this is that Chicago was in an untenable position with Weatherspoon. Multiple players asked for trades during the season, though only Mabrey was sent out, and the Sky ended an uncomfortable situation as soon as possible. Jeff Pagliocca was named general manager after the Sky hired Weatherspoon, so her hiring doesn’t reflect poorly on him.

But that doesn’t absolve ownership of all the missteps it has made, starting with hiring and firing a coach after only 11 months. Chicago’s practice space is below league average, and the announcement of plans for a new facility was delayed. The Sky are low on team-building assets because they persisted with a head coach-GM combo long after the rest of the league had expanded front office sizes. Even the second Mabrey trade appears to be a misstep; as Mabrey dazzles for Connecticut in the playoffs, it’s clear Chicago could have extracted more value in a deal.

Instead, the organization is once again staring down an offseason with a talent deficit and a reinforced reputation for chaos. The only upside is maybe that leaves an opening for Reese to insert her voice and to take more ownership within the franchise. What matters for Chicago now isn’t that the outside world has faith in its decision-making, but that Reese does.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Chicago Sky, WNBA, Opinion

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